Automated washing machines (such as laundry washing machines) often include mechanisms for dispensing additives into a washing chamber (e.g., a drum of a laundry washing machine). Some dispensers contain receptacles or chambers for different additives, which can include detergents, whiteners, fabric softeners, scents, rinse aids, etc. Typically, a user fills a dispenser chamber with one or more additives. During a wash cycle, water is then automatically introduced into the dispenser chamber and mixes with the additive. The water/additive mixture then flows into a separate washing chamber. Filling a first dispenser chamber with water or other liquid may, in some instances, cause unintentional water flow into a second dispenser chamber. This gives rise to the undesirable situation of a user encountering liquid in a chamber of the dispenser the next time a user uses the washing machine and needs to add more detergent or other additives.